Seventeen minutes. Seventeen minutes were all that remained before Cheryl unleashed her 'Tears of Alice.'

Elba swallowed, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched the hand of the clock pass the number twelve mark. Llamadeus's bullet-riddled corpse was still sprawled in its chair, abandoned even by Chief Trunchbull: with the clock ticking closer and closer to the Red Queen's final justice, the elephant was getting irate with the security guards confining him, Elba and Llater to the lounger. He was standing at the exit at this very moment, arguing with their glorified jailors. Elba had already given up and was now leaving it up to God to get them out of this. That was if the ZBI or ZPD didn't beat the Lord to it.

"Any time now…" He growled under his breath.

"I think I made the right choice with Firestalk." Pottermass said.

Elba looked to the hippo, who had been sitting at the other couch in complete silence for so long that Elba had forgotten he was there. The hippo had a creased-up photograph in one hand and a half-empty glass in the other.

"Firestalk?" Elba asked.

"The company Zoocell absorbed a couple of months back to fill the fire safety niche. Look up." Elba looked up at the fire sprinklers above their heads. "They installed these about a week ago. Aren't they lovely? Like silver flowers."

Elba eyed Pottermass. "… Mixing cocktails out of cocktails wasn't good for you, was it?"

The clock hand passed the number three mark, and that was when the phone rang. He almost ripped his pocket picking up the phone.

"This better be good news, I swear to God…"

"Heh, that's a bit rich coming from the jackass who promised to keep Benji safe."

Elba froze, his hoof squeezing the arm of the couch when he recognized the frail but angry voice. "Ryder? You don't sound so good."

"You have no idea. Thanks a lot for leading that psycho to my Nocturnal safe house, by the way." Honey sneered.

Elba rubbed his temple. "Ryder, I am so sorry. I accept full responsibility for what happened, but you should know that he's back in safe hands now."

"Glad to hear it, but from what I hear you don't have much time."

Elba eyed the clock. Sixteen minutes remained. "You'll never lift the lockdown in time, if you can even get into the system at all."

Honey paused. "I know. If I was any condition to use a computer a few hours ago, I would have called a lot sooner. But if you help me get into the system, we might be able to save some lives at least."

Elba released a shuddering breath. "How?"

"Classic hacker trick. I've sent an email to Swinton's computer with a clickbait that'll let me install a program. You get to her office, click the link, and I can have a shot at lifting the lockdown so the feds can get into the building."

Elba grimaced and glanced at Trunchbull, who was still trying to intimidate the guards into letting him pass. "Any ideas how to get past couple of stubborn security guards?"

"Ask the secretary. He's ZBI."

"… He's what?"

"He's an undercover agent. The government knew the Swintons were harboring a Boarlish fugitive all along. Go figure."

Elba dented the floor with his cane as he pushed himself to his feet, his eyes fixing on the bespectacled llama sitting at the bar. "Pardon me just a moment. Don't go off the phone."

He limped over to the llama, the beating of his cane on the floor prompting the llama to turn his head just in time for the buffalo to grab him by the jacket. "Commissioner, what are you-"

Elba pulled Llater's face up to his. "ZIA, ZBI, I don't care who you're affiliated with. Are you undercover?"

Llater blinked. His confusion would have been convincing to anyone who didn't know better. "Are you off your gourd, Commissioner?!"

His hushed, furious whisper and the side-glance at Trunchbull was all Elba needed to see. "You are, aren't you?"

"I don't have a flying crap what you're talking about!"

Elba lifted the phone to his ear for a moment. "Ryder, I'm putting Llater on the phone. Tell him what you know."

Before Honey could respond, Elba pressed the phone against Llater's ear. He watched as Llater listened to the weak voice on the other end; the longer he listened, the more pronounced became his shock. "How the hell do you know all this?" He paused, listening to Honey's answer. His face hardened as he understood that the game was up. "Alright, I'm listening." Honey presumably repeated what she had told Elba. "As much as I don't trust you, I don't have any better suggestions, so I guess I'm in. Commissioner, she wants you back on the phone."

Elba pulled the phone back so Honey could speak to him. "As much as I don't like your government, what Cheryl's doing goes way beyond just sticking it to the man, so believe me when I say you can trust me on this."

Elba nodded and looked back at the clock. Thirteen minutes remained. "How do I find this email?"

"Ten reasons why sheep can't be trusted. One of the most obvious clickbaits in the world, you can't miss it."

"And if Swinton sees it first?"

"If she's deleted it, send a text and I'll send another. Now I suggest the pair of you figure out a way past those guards. Over and out."

Elba pocketed the phone. "Llater, why're you taking your jacket off?"

Llater threw the jacket on the couch. "There's only one way to get past them quick enough to reach the computer in time, and to pull it off I'm going to need you to distract the chief."

Elba didn't waste time questioning him. He made his way over to the argumentative elephant and tapped his massive arm.

"Trunchbull, a word."

Trunchbull tore his glare away from the security guards. "But I- these-"

"You're wasting your time, Horace, and you know it. Come over here, we need to talk."

Elba bit part of his lip as he led a reluctant Trunchbull away, as he had no idea what he wanted to talk about. He just hoped that Llater would do what he was going to do, and quickly. He stopped beside the couch were Pottermass now lay passed out, making sure Trunchbull had his back to the exit.

"What's wrong, Commissioner?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just…" Elba squeezed his cane. Think, Morgan, think of something, you idiot… "I'm not sure how best to put this…"

Trunchbull suddenly grabbed Elba's shoulders. "Is it Mansa? Did the ZBI find him? Sir, please tell me he's okay!"

Thank you! "He's fine. They all are. McHorn, not so much…"

"Wait, what happened to McHorn?"

"An unfortunate run-in with Valentino-"

"That sick bastard."

"- but he'll pull through if his luck holds out."

"Good, good. And what about Cunninghorn?"

"Cunninghorn is dead, and if you want some more good news, they found Clawhauser. He's safe."

Trunchbull blinked. "They found him alive?"

Thump!

Trunchbull spun round, and Elba had to step to the side to see past the elephant's massive form. Both guards were on the floor, and Llater was propped against the wall and clutching his arm. Elba did not fail to notice that both arms were positioned to conceal his knuckles from view.

"Llater? For heaven's sake, what happened?" He asked.

"Don't know! Someone attacked them, nearly broke my arm and took off! I think they went that way!" Llater pointed to the right.

Trunchbull took off like a shot, charging down the hallway in pursuit of an attacker that didn't exist. When he was out of sight, Llater plucked a handgun from the holster of one of the fallen guards, and together he and Elba turned left, the quicker route to the Mayor's office.

"Stay close." Llater said. "Cheryl could start the attack any minute."

They reached the office with four minutes to spare. The incessant ache that had developed from pushing his leg to the limit wasn't helping Elba's mood as he forced himself to stop and knock. At first, he heard nothing, but then his hopes were dashed when the door opened, and he was greeted by the scowling face of another guard.

"You should be in the lounge." The bull said unfriendlily.

"Someone took out the guards. We need to see the mayor." Elba said.

Fortunately, the guard's retort was cut off by Swinton. "Let them in."

Elba's inner voice cursed over and over as the guard stood aside to let them into the office, and he saw Swinton at her desk with a guard on either side of the desk, and the head of security was busy typing on the computer. T-minus four-goddamn-minutes, for god's sake why did this have to happen now?

Swinton had taken off her red cardigan at some point, and her thick golden tuft looked like she had run her hooves through it one time too many. Her head of security, a warthog, smacked the desk with a curse. "It's no use. We'd need an expert to get the lockdown lifted. How the hell did she get into the system in the first place?"

Elba checked his watch and felt his heart sink. Three minutes left. How the hell was he going to get on that computer?

He took a step forward. "Tilda, time's almost up. You've got to stop this."

"Save your breath." Tilda stood up, her hooves spread and planted on the desk. "Whatever that bitch has up her sleeve, we'll survive it. We've survived Roarcadia. Together. The Red Queen and her posse won't even leave a dent."

Elba felt sick. He'd heard insane talk like this before, from her father. "Tilda, I'm begging you. You've talked about not repeating Theodore's mistakes, but that's exactly what you're doing. Your father cut corners when building Roarcadia…" He paused, looking around at the guards, understanding with a heavy heart what he had to do. "We need to talk. Alone."

"Why?" Swinton demanded, reminding Elba that he was currently under suspicion of Llamdeus's murder and being a traitor to Zootopia.

"Because it's not something you want employed acquaintances to hear."

Swinton eventually waved the guards and Llater out the room, with the instructions to have their guns at the ready. They reluctantly left, shutting the door behind them.

"You stay where you are." Swinton said coldly.

Elba felt goosebumps when she picked up her gun and pointed it at him.

"There's something I didn't tell you before." He said, swallowing back bile. "While you were dealing with the hostage situation, I sent some officers to Founder's Mountain in search of answers."

Swinton's red mouth gaped. "You what?"

"They investigated the asylum and found…"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Blam!

The bullet passed the flinching buffalo and hit the door, which swiftly swung open.

"Ma'am!" Pumbleton yelled, his gun on Elba.

"Get out, you idiot!" Swinton screamed.

Pumbleton assessed the situation for a moment and obeyed.

Swinton's gun trembled in her hoof. Elba wished his own gun hadn't been confiscated. "What have you done, Morgan?"
Elba swallowed but held his ground. "People are dying, Tilda, and you just sit on your fancy throne allowing that to happen. I did what I had to do."

Swinton bared her teeth in rage. "You killed Llamadeus, didn't you?" She hissed.

"That was not me, I swear to god." Elba insisted. "You'd think I'd assist in the massacre of hundreds of innocent mammals? After what happened in Roarcadia? For god's sake, you know me better than that!"

Tilda giggled humorlessly and ran her fingers through her unkempt hair with her free hoof. "Shit. Shit. Goddamn it, shit… Why couldn't you for once in your life look the other way?"

"My priority has always been the citizens of this city. You've always known that." Elba said.

"And that's why dad and the others hated you so much. Thought that if you caught even a whiff on wrongdoing from any of them you'd turn on us in an instant. Bisoniing even suggested arranging a little accident a few years back."

"But you didn't go for it, huh?" Elba assumed, considering he was still alive.

"Why would I? Unlike them, I actually respect your opinion. Instead I told them we needed someone who would make sure we didn't accidentally turn everyone against us by passing some bone-headed legal bill."

"Then listen to me now." Elba risked another step. "There may be a way to lift the lockdown so the ZBI can get in and save us, but you have to trust me."

Swinton clenched the fist not holding the gun. "I want to. I really, really want to trust you. But someone in this building has betrayed my family and you have more motive than anyone."

Elba felt a powerful chill. "Tilda. No. You have to believe me."

"Do I?" Swinton's voice was rising. Her gun arm straightened and tensed, poised to pull the trigger. "My father always said you'd sell us out, one day! How do I know he wasn't right?!"

"Because he'd be a goddamn hypocrite if he did! I didn't betray you, Theodore did!"

Swinton blinked. "You… what the hell do you think you're…"

Elba pressed on, even as he dreaded her reaction. "When you abandoned Roarcadia, your father promised you that he'd eradicated every last one of the abominations he created, didn't he?"

Swinton's peach-pink skin paled. "You're lying."

"One of the officers I sent discovered Cunninghorn's body in the old church in Swinetown."

"No…"

"He'd been killed. Mauled by this creature…"

"No, no, he gave me his word…"

"A creature with paralyzing venom."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!"

"You're lying to yourself." Elba snarled. He took another step, reaching the desk and planting his hooves on the surface on either side of the computer. "Theodore was a madman, and you know it!"

Swinton started pacing behind her desk, muttering furiously under her breath, eyes dancing as her mind raged in conflict. "He wouldn't keep one of them… why would he do that? What am I saying, of course he would do that. Picking on those predators was just a means to an end, I knew that. No, he wanted to, to turn them into weapons. Twilight, the Roarcadia Inclusion Initiative, denying their rights as citizens, it was all meant to lead up to that. Of course he wouldn't give it up so easily… I should have fucking known…"

Elba regretfully cut her off and glanced at the computer. There was no time to listen to her distressed rambling. "If there was one thing we both agreed on, it was that his plan was insane. It was an accident waiting to happen. I think it's time we let it go."

Swinton shook her head, but it was weak, half-hearted gesture. "Everyone will know what I've done. I'll lose everything."

Elba noted the position of the mouse and keyboard. "Happy with what we've got, unhappy with how we got it. Story of our lives."

Before Swinton could respond, there was a knock on the door. Elba bit down a growl. "For crying out loud, what next?"

Llater tentatively opened the door a crack. "It's Mr. Pottermass, ma'am. He's demanding to see you, but he appears to be rather intoxicated."

Swinton rolled her eyes and lowered her gun. "Let him in. I want him where I can see him."

Llater nodded and opened the door, letting Pottermass stagger into the office with an open, wet umbrella. Visibly infuriated at his drunkenness, Swinton walked out from behind her desk and stormed toward Pottermass. Elba was upon her computer an instant, and by the time Swinton had finished reading Pottermass the riot act, the clickbait email had been opened.

Elba backed away from the desk, looked at his watch and felt his blood freeze. Time had run out almost sixty seconds ago.

"You better be as good as you think you are, Honey." He whispered.

On the other side of the desk, Pottermass leaned against the closed doors, blithely listening as Swinton finally stopped yelling at him for carrying an open umbrella indoors.

"Are you finished?" He asked.

"Yes." Swinton sneered, her gun still in her hoof.

"Then you should know that I came here to tell you that someone just turned on every sprinkler in the building."


Nick heard the text before he saw it and picked up Judy's phone so she wouldn't need to lower the binoculars. Gabe had chosen the perfect vantage point for them, a tall building overlooking the central park with a perfect view of both City Hall and Precinct One. The ground level was rife with ZBI activity, most of which consisted of a group of them trying to cut their way through the thick shutters keeping them out of City Hall. Gabe and Starlight were staying with the helicopter on another building, likely still debating whether to go immediately to Mr. Big's residence to retrieve Sherry and Lance or attempt to infiltrate a building crawling with ZBI and Swinton's guards to rescue Starlight's surrogate father. Nick couldn't blame them for their dilemma.

Nick quickly read the text. "Honey again. Looks like the commissioner pulled it off."

"Good." Judy replied. "How long will it take to lift the shutters?"

"Hopefully not too long now that she's in the system." Nick said, stating his abbreviated version of the badger's text. "Until then, all we can do is wait."

And wait they did. Minutes felt like hours as they stared at the sealed orifices of the building. From this distance they looked like opaque glass panels to Nick's eyes. The ZBI mammals, dressed in dark combat hazmat suits to protect them from the savage-inducing toxins, hovered around the sealed exits like ants. The lights of the interior rooms were completely blocked out by the shutters, leaving City Hall in ominous darkness. Nick glanced at Judy, feeling strangely satisfied at her intense focus on the commotion below. He had done stake outs before, but often with Finnick, who was often too busy drinking and playing poker against himself to pay attention. The rabbit with the binoculars was infinitely more professional. Nick never expected having stakeout with a cop at his side, like they were partners.

Judy sighed and lowered the binoculars. "Sweet cheese and crackers, I hate this."

"Me too." Nick said. "At least with that anonymous tip, they'll know where to find Cheryl once they're in. That is, assuming it's not hidden by a secret door or something."

Judy put down the goggles and scowled at the fox. "At least you didn't call them a giant sack of dung when you tipped them off."

Nick winced. He'd almost forgotten about his little reason-Bogo-sucks-speech. "I see your great big ears caught that unfortunate outburst, how typical."

"Why did you say that, Nick?" Judy asked.

Nick shrugged, which wasn't an easy feat when he was lying flat on his stomach staring over the edge of a tall building. "I had to say something to guilt him into letting us go."

Judy turned on her side and put her paw on her hip. "Nick."

Nick huffed. Dumb bunny keeps seeing through my bullshit… "Okay, fine. I guess I'm still getting used to the whole 'not all cops are dicks' thing."

Judy pursed her lips. "And?"

Seriously the stupidest stereotype ever… "And I hate him because he's not a dick, okay?"

With that answer, Judy's expression turned sympathetic. "Not a… a dirtbag to Ben, you mean."

"I tried to be a good friend to him." It hurt Nick to let it out, but he kept going. "After his parents died, me, Honey and Finnick took care of him until he got his own place. I tried to protect him, I really tried. But then I screwed up. And along comes big buffalo-butt, and he does the friend-slash-protector thing better. Worse, he's a freaking cop."

Judy smiled gently. "Nick. A thousand times. He. Will. Forgive you."

Her ears pricked, and she sharply looked back at City Hall. Nick let her use the binoculars again, having decided that he didn't need them to watch was happening below. The shutters weren't open yet, but the ZBI was redoubling their efforts to get through the shutters. Those that weren't were rapidly backing away. That didn't look good.

"Something's happening." Judy sounded worried as she handed the binoculars over to Nick. He'd never used binoculars before in his life, and it made his eyes feel weird. It also took some adjusting and slight shifting of his aim to see the shutters. They were pulsing slightly, like something was attacking them from the other side.

Nick lowered the binoculars. "Carrots? How much longer until Cheryl's deadline?"

Judy checked her phone; her eyes widened, and her ears went flat. "Oh, heck."

Nick's phone rang. Judy snatched the binoculars as he answered it. "Honey, any luck?"

"Nick, I've just got off the phone with Elba! The Tears of Alice isn't the city's water supply! It's sprinklers!"

"Sprinklers?" Nick repeated, not comprehending what she was saying.

"Cheryl has just activated every sprinkler in City Hall!" Honey said slowly, with agitated emphasis on every word. "She's just infected ninety percent of City Hall's population!"

"Every sprinkler?!" Judy's ears had caught enough of the conversation to send her into a fright. Nick felt his own breath quickening as comprehension finally sunk in. "Bu-but that's impossible!"

Nick snatched the radio from Judy's belt. "We've got to warn them!"

They used to radio to contact Gabe and Starlight, who agreed to immediately send another anonymous tip to the feds below, and then fly their helicopter to the roof of City Hall to await the lifting of the lockdown. Nick and Judy stayed on the phone, watching anxiously as the ZBI all retreated from the shutters and formed a line along the edge of the park, every gun aimed at the exit. They had failed to find a way in, and now they were preparing to fight anything that may find a way out.

"Nick, put the phone on speaker." Nick did as Judy told him and set the phone down between them. "Ryder, when the time comes, lift the shutters only on the main entrance. We can't risk any of those affected mammals getting past the ZBI."

"Got it." Honey said.

Nick gripped the edge of the rooftop, his claws scratching the stone. There was no-one in that building he was emotionally attached to, but it made him feel sick to stare at City Hall and imagine what was happening to the souls inside. This must be what Bogo and the other cops felt when faced with a hostage situation gone south. Once upon a time, Nick had thought them to be little more than bullies with badges and way more firepower than they ought to have. He was so narrow-minded. Bullies or not, lives still depended on the fuzz on a daily basis.

"How could she activate every sprinkler in a building?" Judy asked in disbelief. "Most systems don't have that kind of function!"

"That particular sprinkler system was installed a couple of months ago. I wouldn't put it past Cheryl to have had a special switch attached at some point during the installation." Honey said. "Especially with a traitor in City Hall."

Judy nodded, accepting the theory. "The Red King. Whoever they are, they helped make all this possible. It's because of them that Cheryl and Sedor were able to stay one step ahead. But why? None of them have a motive."

"Doesn't matter, considering that I've just got control of the shutters. I would have cracked it sooner, but Cheryl also tried to activate the collars, but I managed to stop the signal from getting out, for now."

Judy laughed in amazement. "You stopped her? How?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. ETA one minute on the shutters."

Judy's ears perked with relief. "Thanks, but ETA doesn't really apply to this scenario."

"… T-minus one minute, then. And get your priorities straight, rabbit!"

One minute came and went must faster than Nick had thought it would. He'd only gotten down to seven seconds before the shutters covering the main entrance and adjoining windows slowly slid open.

Nick and Judy watched, the fox's heart catching when glass exploded outward, followed by a massive rhino security guard on all fours. The ZBI opened fire, bringing him down in seconds, but then more mammals came charging out. Two became four, then four became fifteen. The steps outside City Hall were wide and gentle, sparing the afflicted mammals from fatal tumbles as the ZBI defended their positions with refined marksmanship and reflexes, never letting a single savage past the steps and onto the city streets. Nick counted twenty-seven mammals on the steps before the influx stopped, and the ZBI mammals at the front of the line cautiously stalked forward the check the lobby. At first only three disappeared into the building. After a minute, a large squad followed; the lobby was clear. In ten minutes they would reach Elba's last known location in the mayor's office. After that, it would only be a matter of time before they found where Cheryl was hiding.

Nick clasped his paws together, his breath coming out in sharp, heavy, quiet gasps, waiting for something, anything, to go wrong.

Judy's radio crackled. "I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then."

Nick clenched his fists upon recognizing the voice.

"Cheryl." Judy hissed, her ears drooping again.

"Everything's got a moral if only you can find it." Cheryl sounded different. It sounded deeper, almost as deep as the anger she was audibly struggling to keep buried. "And you won't find it up there on that roof."

Nick went stiff enough that his limbs felt unwilling to ever move again. That was the voice of a mammal who was unlikely to be reasoned with. Jeez, Swinton, what the hell have you done?

Judy snatched the radio, her pretty purple eyes hard with defiance. "I've got you in check, Cheryl. I've told the ZBI about Swinton's secret surveillance room. It's only a matter of time before they find you. You've been blocked from triggering the collars. Give yourself up before it's checkmate."

"Oh no. Not yet. If you think I'm out of moves, you are dead fucking wrong!"

With that, City Hall lit up with hundreds of tiny lights as every shutter lifted, and Nick knew it wasn't Honey. "Take a look at the third-floor window, that big one with the chandelier of hanging baubles…"

Judy looked through the binoculars, leaving Nick to strain his eyes to see what Cheryl was expecting them to see. Fortunately, the window was big enough to see everything that was happening inside the gratuitously glossy meeting room. It occurred to Nick that it may be shinier than usual due to the blue-tinted water left behind by the sprinklers, which had dried up some time ago. The door opened and three figures with tranq rifles entered the room, ZBI from the look of it-

The explosion was silent for a split second, a fireball that exploded from a fourth-floor window. The sound of the explosion came a second later, as the fireball dissipated into impenetrable black smoke.

"That was the fourth-floor archive room, right? Back down here, you two."

Nick tilted his eyes back down to the third-floor window. He clapped his paw to his mouth. Beside him, Judy squeaked in equal horror.

The meeting room had been transformed, and so had the ZBI goons occupying it. Lucent blood adorned the room and the bodies, mingling with the bluish sprinkler water, guaranteeing that Nick would never look at red wine the same way again. It trickled down the walls and beaded on the table like rain, glistening under the cool buttery light of the chandelier baubles.

Standing before the window, her paw print visible on the smeared splash she had wiped a thick streak through beforehand, stood Cheryl in all her creepy onyx glory. Staring back at them through a pair of binoculars, she raised her other paw and waved at them with waggling fingers, causing dark droplets to tumble to the hardwood floor. It was a ludicrously cheerful wave, and it made Nick want to scream to her face that she was out of her fucking mind.

The fox and rabbit watched, appalled, as Cheryl lowered the binoculars, revealing that she was no longer wearing her gas mask. Nick set his jaw as he gazed upon her face. He couldn't make them out properly from this distance, but he could picture those striped, attractive, frigid features that he hadn't seen since Wild Times went up in smoke. He remembered those eyes, the ones with the contracted pupils that had unsettled him so much when they'd first met. He'd known there wasn't something right about her, but yet again his ambition had blinded him to the danger.

Judy had noticed. Nick had seen the way she'd looked at the tiger and had chalked it up to the bigotry of a carrot farming dumb bunny. He'd been such a fricking hypocrite.

Cheryl raised her bloody paw to her headset she was wearing under her hood.

"You didn't think I would be crazy enough to take on the ZBI with my bare paws, did you? My rodent soldiers have been smuggling explosives and weapons into the castle for the last twelve hours. The feds have no idea what they've gotten themselves into."

On cue, they heard another explosion deep within the building, somewhere on the second or third floor.

The door behind Cheryl burst open and she dropped behind the soaked table before the two hazmat mammals could see her. Nick grabbed the radio, desperate to warn them in time, but he had no idea how to use the dials.

One of the officers started making their way around the left-hand side of the table, leaving his colleague to watch the exit. Cheryl slunk around the other side of the table on all fours, pausing just out of sight of the mammal guarding the door.

Judy snatched the radio from him and scrambling to find the channel the ZBI was using.

When the other officer reached the other end of the table, Cheryl sprung, dragging the first officer out of sight behind the table. By the time his colleague realized what had happened, arterial spray had coated the half-open door.

Judy screamed a warning into the radio, but it came too late as Cheryl pounced across the table, fast as a black comet, her jaws sinking into the other officer's neck as she brought him down.

Nick jerked his head away, biting back a sob. Judy had already lost that battle, tears trickling down her face like the blood staining the walls and window.

Cheryl licked the blood from her face as she straightened, holding the corpse by the back of the ravaged neck as she retrieved her radio. "Where was I? Ah, yes. You may have me in check, but you're forgetting the most important piece on the board."

"Let me guess. Your Red King is still in play." Nick snarled through his teeth.

"Close. You and your officers would never have gotten this far without the commissioner supporting you behind the tyrant's back. My defeats are his doing. When I find him, I'll paint his office with his blood."

Judy bristled. "Don't you dare hurt him!"

"Come inside and it may not come to that. Choose your next move wisely, Hopps. I'm waiting."

Nick watched as Cheryl put the radio away, dropped the body like a plastic sack of bug meat, and stalked out the room.